Japan’s weather agency warned of possible landslides, flooding and violent winds, as well as high tides, lightning and tornadoes in a swathe of the Japanese archipelago including the major cities of Osaka and Kyoto as well as Tokyo.

Arriving on land, Jebi had winds of up to 162 kilometres (100 miles) per hour at its centre, classing it a “very strong” typhoon, the weather agency’s chief forecaster Ryuta Kurora told AFP.

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“This is (the strongest) since 1993.”

As the storm approached, Abe called a disaster response meeting and cancelled a trip to western Japan.

“I urge the Japanese people to take action to protect your lives, including preparing and evacuating early,” he said.

Evacuation advisories were issued for 1.19 million people in western and central Japan, with another 16,000 people issued with stronger but non-mandatory evacuation orders, the fire and disaster management agency said.

Local media warned that the wind was strong enough to topple traditional-style wooden houses and power poles, and urged people in affected areas to avoid non-essential travel.

Television footage showed high waves crashing into breakers and debris flying through the air in areas where the storm first made landfall.

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Primary and middle schools in affected areas were closed while regional businesses also reacted quickly, with a major railway firm and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka shutting down for Tuesday.

More than 175,000 buildings in central and western Japan were without power, according to a tally compiled by Bloomberg News of local utilities.